How self-awareness is different from selfishness

[dattaseva]

Selfishness is different from self-awareness. Self-awareness refers to the knowledge of the reality of yourself and other selves in creation. If you're aware that you're not God and that you're only a self created by God, this is self-awareness. Selfishness means your attraction to yourself and other selves.

Generally, it's assumed that if you're attracted to yourself and only a few other selves, then it's being selfish. It's also thought that if you are attracted to all the selves in this world, it's not selfishness. This point may be correct in a confined view. But, from a deeper and broader perspective, this is not correct. Whether you're attracted to yourself or a few other selves or all the selves in the creation, it's selfishness only. If you're attracted to God, only then can you say that you're not being selfish.

If you rise above yourself and a few selves and get attracted to all the selves in the creation, you'll only attain temporary heaven. You'll reach the permanent abode of God only if you become detached from all the other selves in the world and become singularly attracted to God.

Therefore, in the attraction to God, there is no attraction to any other self (including yourself) apart from God. Hence, selfishness disappears totally in the true devotion to God. But, you must have the self-awareness during the devotion to God. If self-awareness is absent, there's a danger that you may think that you are God. Earning one's livelihood comes under self-awareness and not selfishness. Without livelihood, the self disappears; one must maintain the self to have at least self-awareness.

[ajay00]

Originally Posted by dattaseva

If you're aware that you're not God and that you're only a self created by God, this is self-awareness.

That indicates duality or dvaita . In the unitary perception, there is no thought of God itself or any other similar thoughts in the first place.

One sees the reality as it is, without any thoughts or conditioning colouring it.

If there is any sort of conditioning colouring the perception, that shows that one is not seeing reality as it is, but as what one's background has projected it to be from its past memories.

For example , a Hindu sees a bull as a sacred animal, while a farmer sees it as a useful animal to plough fields, while a butcher sees it as merely food.

In Awareness , one sees a thing as it is , and not out of one's conditioning.

[dattaseva]

What is awareness? Is it the transfer of information through the senses? Is it the processing of the received information in a specific organ known as the brain? Or is the collective impression of the bits of processed information? All of these processes together result in a sense of 'knowing', which can be collectively termed as awareness.

Awareness in human beings is dependent upon the constant functions of machine-like actions of various physical structures within the body. Food is digested in the presence of oxygen and the energy released is transferred to the nervous system where this sense of 'knowing' takes places.

Without food for a even few days, ordinary people would definitely not be as 'aware' as they can possibly be. Awareness in human beings is simply a specialized work form of the cosmic energy present everywhere in the universe.

In a certain form, this energy is known as electricity. In another form, it's known as light. In yet another form in the body, it's known as respiration and so on and so forth.

When one goes into a state of deep sleep, there is no sense of 'I'. Upon awakening, this 'I' comes back. What happens during such a time? The same basic energy which was transmuted into the specialized form of awareness returns simply returns to its primordial form.

So is there an omniscient awareness that is independent of all such external systems? Because clearly, according to scientific knowledge, awareness in a human being cannot exist without a properly functioning nervous system aided by other physical structures (heart, lungs, kidneys, etc.).

The omniscient awareness that exists independently is that of God, the absolute reality. The unimaginable God exists beyond the limits of human perception. His existence can only be inferred through the direct experience of His unimaginable nature.

Please go through the following links whenever you can.

http://www.universal-spirituality.org/thrimatha.html

http://www.universal-spirituality.org/advaita.html

[Shivani Devi]

I can be both selfish and self-aware independently, so I know there's a difference between the two.

There are a lot of terms in relation to 'self' and it's usually juxtaposed with reference to how it affects other people and their labeling of it.

Being a total, 100% introvert since birth, I am very intimate with my 'self' in all its glorious forms - even losing 'self' a few times being massively overcome with Shiva-love.

"Selfish" - regarding 'self' at the expense of others.
"Self-Centred" - regarding 'self' at the expense of 'self' and
"Self -Aware" - not regarding 'self' at all.

The awareness is what is left after all aspects of a 'personal self' have been removed.

It's like...I can love God or be God at any given drop of the hat, but then one realises it's impossible to 'be God' because god exists independently of one 'being it' or 'becoming it' or 'merging in it'. To say 'that thou art' is still dualistic because there's a 'that' and a 'thou'.

Self-awareness is like being totally detached from everything and just watching...watching your own interactions and thinking/judging the responses...catching any negative/bad emotions and 'playing a role' instead of being lost in the drama.

[Jyotir]

In concurrence with ajay00 a few posts back,

If you're aware that you're not God and that you're only a self created by God, this is self-awareness.

That's actually a pretty good definition of ego consciousness, which is itself, the very definition of selfishness.


~ J